


Dracula!

by FountainPen



Category: Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: Almost all of them are drama kids, Alternate Universe - High School, Aromantic Ed, Established Relationship, F/F, Gen, M/M, Suzabel, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, dimitri And Collin are trans try and stop me, everyone thinks Cody is a vampire, he totally is tho so, isaac is low key a jock, izzy and Suzy are highkey jocks, max has insomnia and relies on caffeine, only because I wanted the characters to have known each other for a long time, suzabel is a power couple and that’s the facts, yes that’s me projecting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2020-05-02 06:32:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19193611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FountainPen/pseuds/FountainPen
Summary: When Stephen becomes suspicious of Cody while participating in the play Dracula, he embarks on a quest to prove that Cody is a member of the undead army.Meanwhile, Johnny attempts to get Max to get some rest in between ghost hunting and play rehearsal, Isaac and Cody laugh about how Cody isn’t at all a vampire.Ed, Dimitri And Collin work to make their friends see how stupid they’re being about each other, and Isabel and Suzy laugh at all of them.





	1. Sneaking Suspicion

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! It’s summer!! I lived!! I’ve already gotten a good chunk of this written out, and I’m super stoked to write the rest of it! 
> 
> I just wanted to say thank you for reading, and that feedback is always appreciated!

“Max! Your friends are here and they’re eating things!” Zoe shouted up the stairs from the counter of the store. Max grabbed his backpack and hopped over the couch. He was pleased with himself when he managed not to catch foot on the cushion and send himself tumbling down the stairs, but the feeling was short lived as he landed to close to the edge of the stairs and fell down them anyway, onto the padded landing his father decided to construct after his fourth trip down the stupid flight of stairs. Zoe packed up her own things, running outside as the bus pulled up.

 

“Right on time Max,” Izzy said, grabbing a bottle of water. “We gotta grab Suzy on the way to school, her mom can’t drive her and she doesn’t wanna take the bus.”

 

“Isaac, can the Mystery Machine even hold another person?” Ed asked.

 

“I told you to stop calling it that, I got it so I could drive you losers everywhere,” Isaac huffed. “And yes, it can, but I have practice after school and only if Isabel gives me gas money.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“We’re picking up  _ your _ girlfriend,” Isaac said, dodging the breakfast bar Izzy threw his way.

 

“You never make Max pay when Johnny needs a ride!”

 

‘He’s in drama with us, Izz,” Max replied as his face reddened.“Me and Johnny aren’t dating!”

  
“Yet,” Dimitri said from an aisle over, Max jumped, not knowing he was there.

 

“Jesus Dee, don’t do that!” Max coughed. “You’re gonna give me a heart attack one day.”

 

“That or the copious amounts of caffeine you consume will.” Isaac snarked.

 

“I’m a growing boy.”

 

“You’re really not.” Ed grinned. “I’m pretty sure you stunted your growth.”

 

“I will kill you, you giant gangly nerd.” Max glowered up at Ed, squinting as Ed’s glasses reflected sunlight right into Max’s eyes.

 

“Yeah okay.”

 

“If we’re done bullying Max, can we get going? I have morning patrol and I wanna get it over with.” Dimitri said, shrugging on his backpack.

 

“Dimitri is now my favorite,” Max announced, stepping over toward the sliding doors. “Shotgun!”

 

* * *

 

“Remind me again why I bother sitting with you?” Max asked Johnny, who was balancing a milk carton on his nose like a seal.

 

“I’m roguishly handsome n’ I could kill Superman,” Johnny said as the milk fell. RJ caught it before it hit the ground and tossed it back into the air, bumping it over to Stephen, who in turn swatted it at Ollie. At first, Max was upset that the four were his only company for lunch every other day, but he’d quickly warmed up to spending time with Johnny, RJ, Stpehn, and Ollie.

 

“Okay, first of all, I wouldn’t say ‘roguishly handsome’. More like…” Max waved his arms as he thought. “I don’t know, the energy of a baby shark.”

 

“Doo doo doo doo,” Stephen added as seriously as he could.

 

“I will kill you,” Ollie said.

 

“M’not a baby shark!” Johnny exclaimed.

 

“Doo doo doo doo.”

 

“Stephen!” Ollie continued to admonish Stephen while RJ assaulted him with the grabby dinosaur they’d won from an arcade and subsequently dubbed ‘Tax Collector’.

 

Max grinned, watching his friends bicker while Johnny attempted to express his rage at being compared to a baby anything. RJ suddenly stopped their tirade with Tax Collector and pulled their phone out of their hoodie pocket. They flipped the screen around, to face Johnny, Max, and Stephen, revealing a text from their drama teacher, Ms. Yang.

 

_ Srry for last minute, but let the others kno our sponsor wants us off script by next Thurs. _

 

“What!?” Stephen exclaimed, tossing down his sandwich. “We  _ just  _ started blocking the second act! I don’t care how much cash Sponsor Dude is giving us, my brain is full.”

 

“My God, I shoulda tried fer’ a character with less longass speeches.” Johnny groaned, and Max grimaced right along with him.

 

“Dude the Van Hellsing voice is gonna  _ kill _ my throat.”

 

“You sound like Solid Snake when you do it.” Ollie agreed solemnly.

 

“Speaking of  _ Dracula _ ,” Stephen abandoned his lunch and began pulling a folder from his bag. “I have a theory about a classmate of ours.”

 

“Oh, sweet lord.” Max hissed.

 

“Cody middle name Jones” 

 

“Might I reiterate,” Max said as Stephen spread the papers out on the table. “Oh, sweet lord.”

 

“He’s been right before.” Ollie shrugged. “He found out about the corruption in our middle school student council being rooted all the way back to the VP.”

 

“Yeah but  _ vampires _ ?”

 

“Mux, bud, y’throatpunched a seven-foot tall bug-bear yesterday.” Johnny said, “which, by th’way, was rad as all hell.”  RJ nodded and mouthed the word ‘IceTurtle’

 

“ _ Anyways _ ,” Stephen said, “I’ve known Cody since pre-school and have never seen him eat so much as a fruit loop.”

 

“Point,” Ollie said.

 

“He wears sunscreen in winter.”

 

‘ _ So does Ollie.’ _ RJ signed. 

 

“Point.” Max repeated, holding up a finger.

 

“Have you seen his teeth?”

 

“Okay yeah, that’s weird.” Max relented. Back in Freshman year, Cody had opened a cardboard box with his teeth like a box cutter when one was unavailable.

 

“That’s two’ta one.” Johnny pointed out.

 

“Maybe.”

 

“His dad is super creepy.” Stephen pointed out.

  
“ _ My  _ dad is super creepy, so what?” Max interjected.

 

“Yeah but not like, looming over people and creeping around in dark hallways creepy.” Ollie shrugged.

 

“You’ve seen him on Halloween.”

 

“Quiet you, I’m not done.” Stephen snapped before slipping back into his conspiracy voice. “The guy is way too fast for someone who’s just on the bowling team. He can jump higher and lift more than pretty much anyone I’ve ever met, save the present company.”

 

For a moment Max was starting to believe it. Stephen had that effect on people, he excelled at storytelling and always managed to completely captivate his audience, but Max knew that, and he wasn’t gonna let Stephen convince him that easily.

 

“Okay, so we’ve got an athletic kid with some sharp teeth that’s not a fan of eating in front of people. We’ve seen some weirder kids at this school.” Max said.

 

“Have you ever seen him enter a home uninvited?” Stephen asked seriously.

 

“That’s three,” Ollie observed.

 

“Have you ever seen his shadow?” 

 

“What?”

 

“Some lore says that they don’t cast a shadow, I do my research, Maxwell.”

 

“Just because no one’s noticed it-”

 

“Don’t think I didn’t come unprepared, o ye of little faith.” Stephen interrupted and pulled a blown up picture from the file, it was of a class trip they took to Mayview lake. The photo was taken at sunset, the class’s long shadows stretching out behind them save the large gap where Cody’s should have been. Max internally allowed himself to note how freaky it was paired with the rest of what Stephen had been saying.

 

“Wait,” Johnny said, momentarily breaking the spell. “Aren’t vampires s’posed ta not show in pictures or somethin’?”

 

“Yeah, and we’ve seen his reflection before too.” Ollie pointed out.

 

“You’ve been paying attention,” Stephen nodded. “But, the reasoning behind that is that mirrors used to be backed by silver, old cameras too. Silver is supposed to be pure, so things like vampires and stuff get screwed over by it.”

 

“And cameras nowadays don’t use silver.” Max nodded.

 

“Bingo.”Stephen said.

 

“So the president of the student council is a vampire,” Ollie said.

 

‘ _ Sick.` RJ _ signed.

 

“I’m still not completely convinced,” Max said. “But I’ll bite. Pun intended. Say Cody Jones, Student Council President and the closest thing this town has to a flipping boy scout is a vampire. For one, that’s a little too  _ Lost Boys _ for me, two, what exactly are  _ we _ gonna do about it. It’s  _ Cody _ .”

 

“Oh we aren’t gonna do anything but confirm it for ourselves,” Stephen assured him. “Cody’s an okay dude.”

 

“That makes no sense at all.” Max insisted, but in the back of his mind he made a mental note to pack some leftover garlic bread to throw at Cody just in case. With that, the bell rang, and Stephen began packing up his folder.

 

‘ _ See you in English Max’ _ RJ patted Max on the shoulder and hopped up, heading to their class with Ollie. 

 

“C’mon Van Helsing, we can run lines durin’ study hall.’’ Johnny said and stole Max’s lunch box.

 

“Sounds good to me, but after you have to help me with my calc homework after school, it’s impossible.” Max told him.

 

“T’be fair ya never listen in class.”

 

“That’s because the class is boring as hell.” Max replied. 

 

“Mr. Wilder tells ya not to come in through a window  _ once. _ ’’ Johnny laughed.

 

“Plus, his class is at the end of the day and by then I’m ready to sleep.”

 

“Maybe if y’got more than two hours, y’know, like a normal person, that wouldn’t be an issue.” Max rolled his eyes before making a grab for his lunch box. “Seriously, I’ll start breakin’ n’ entering to force your nerd face to sleep.”

 

“You’d set off the anti-Johnny security system your moms set up and you know it.” Max told him.

 

“ _ That’s not what it’s called _ !” Johnny and Max made their way to their class, bickering back forth the whole way there.


	2. Chapter 2

“Isaac, can you toss me that water bottle.” Max huffed, “I think I’m dying.” 

 

“Don’t be so dramatic, Max” Isaac laughed, tossing him the water bottle. Since they’d all graduated middle school, the activity club had taken up running larger scale patrols all over Mayview, doing so with Isaac usually meant  _ literal _ running. Because Johnny and co. were in detention today- not for bullying, he’d cut back on that around eighth grade, it was for other Johnny related activity, he wasn’t doing patrol with Max that day.

 

“How the  _ hell _ do you do this after football practice you freak demon.” Max continued to complain after draining the bottle.

 

“You’re on the swim team, idiot.” Isaac said. “Not to mention your freakish acrobatics that you enjoy pulling during class to scare the daylights out of innocent people trying to learn.”

 

“Yeah well swim season’s over and I never spend this much on a single flat surface when doing my cool stunts that you’re incredibly jealous of.” Max said, and Isaac plopped down onto the pavement next to him.

 

“Okay Mr. Van Helsing, I thought vampire hunting would keep you in shape but I guess it's also low on physical exertion.” Isaac lived for reminding Max that he was a drama geek and significantly nerdier than Isaac.

 

“Hey, I'll have you know that vampire hunting is an extremely legit business.” Max replied. “It would help if the vampire would quit fooling around during rehearsals though.” Isaac took advantage of the vaguely fond look on Max’s face as an opportunity to poke some fun at his friend.

 

“Van Helsing and Dracula sounds like a bad fanfic, fyi.”

 

“First of all, I will literally scream if you say any words ever again, second of all, the prep and the jock are a pretty classic storyline if you ask me.” Max snarked.

 

“Further proof for my ‘Max reads fanfiction’ theory.” Isaac replied, quietly choosing to ignore the rest of Max’s comment.

 

“I’m not hearing a denial.”

 

“What you said is so dumb that I’m not gonna grace it with a response.” Isaac said.

 

“Mhm.”

 

“I’m serious!”

 

“Mhm.” Max repeated, making sure Isaac could see the deadpan in his face.

 

“You’re a cretin, you know that?” Isaac said. “And at least Cody isn’t a member of the legion of the undead.”

 

“Actually, Stephen has an interesting theory on that I thought you’d appreciate, thanks for reminding me,” Max told Isaac as he finally sat up.

 

“Good god.”

 

“I’m a firm believer that the supernatural stops at ghosts and spirits because I cannot and will not deal with the rest of it,” Max began. “But Stephen doesn’t usually make sense, so when he does he’s usually right.”

 

“That is the shadiest logic ever.”

 

“Yeah well, your student council president boyfriend is probably a vampire, and I firmly believe if he is that Stephen can prove it.”

 

“Oh my  _ god _ Cody is neither my boyfriend, nor is he a vampire.” Isaac groaned. “Stephen was convinced Starchman was a member of the fae.”

 

”To be perfectly fair, Isaac, he did have an extreme aversion to salt and attracted various woodland creatures into the classroom.” 

 

“That’s not how that works,” Isaac said. “Now get up so we can cover more ground before patrol’s over.”

 

“I’d rather not.”

 

“Too bad loser, get up and I’ll buy you something to drink from that new coffee shop on Main Street.” At that, Max caved and stood up, dusting off his jeans and tossing the empty water bottle into a nearby trash can.

 

“If we keep this up I’m going to start getting good at it,” Max huffed.

 

“Unlikely.”

 

“Shut up, Isaac.”

* * *

 

After Isaac was finished trying to kill Max by making him run, the AC ended up meeting at the same coffee shop Max was promised a coffee from, alongside the journalism club. The groups at this point could be generalized as the drama club and Suzy, Isabel, and Dimitri, but there was so much nostalgia attached to their respective club names, not to mention the Jang’s collective statement that they would ‘rather die than disband’ despite everyone’s insistence that there would be no disbanding involved. At that point all of them knew about spectrals, after Izzy had decided to take charge of the Activity Club back in seventh grade, she said it was dumb that they shouldn’t be able to tell people they were close to and encouraged Max and Isaac to tell their families. When Suzy found out, she almost lost it, proclaiming that she ‘knew something weird was going on’ and that ‘Collin was wrong all along.’ Collin spent a lot more time in the school store.

 

“Dimitri. Dee, my dude, my pal,” Ed said, rocking his chair back.

 

“I’m not letting you keep the possessed toothbrush.” Dimitri told him.

 

“ _ Please _ , I promise I’ll take it for a walk everyday and feed it and everything.”

 

“I hate you and your presence.”

 

“That is a vicious lie and you know it.”

 

“Maybe I’d like you more if you didn’t try and keep Cow-Frogs that live in toothbrushes,” Dimitri shrugged.

 

“But how rad would it be?” 

 

“Not rad enough for me to make Dr. Zarei mad.” Dimitri told him while Izzy turned to Isaac, who was in the middle of building a house in Minecraft on his phone.

 

“Isaac why exactly did you make the decision to feed the goblin’s addiction?” Isabel asked wearily while Max made his way back to the table, gleefully holding his drink, being a rancid concoction of black coffee, espresso shots, and copious amounts of sugar.

 

“You know how hard it is to get him to do things.” Isaac said.

 

“sitting right here,” Max reminded her. “and just so you know, I got this specifically to enrage you.”

 

“I know, dork king.” Isabel said. “Speaking of goblins, Stephen is trying to get Suzy to run an article on vampires in the paper, so who is he convinced is a mythical creature this time?”

 

“Don’t get him started,” Isaac groaned.

 

“Please god don’t.” Collin agreed.

 

“He wouldn’t give any good details, just wanted me to ‘put out a feeler’, which I said.i refused to do, because after what happened in ninth grade anything Stephen says has been banned from the newspaper.” Suzy added.

 

“Personally I thought the accusations that Mrs. Porter is a banshee were hilarious and accurate.”

 

“Less funny when she threatens you with suspension, Puckett.” Suzy said. “Anyway, what’d Stephen have to say? We haven't had time to talk in forever.”

 

“Cody Jones is totally a vampire.” Max said. Saying it out loud when not teasing Isaac made him feel stupid, and he did seriously doubt that Cody was actually a bloodsucking creature of the night, but damn it he was going to help is friend prove the dumb conspiracy theory if it killed him. 

 

“I thought your strict nope-o-meter made it clear that anything other than ghosts were a load of crap?”

 

“It does but Stephen made some uncomfortably well thought out points. He has a file and everything.” Max replied. 

 

“So you buy it?” Suzy asked, pulling a notepad and pen from out of nowhere.

 

“We can’t have one normal outing?” Collin asked.

 

“With the Izz? No way.” Ed grinned. He’d finally relented on his quest to gain custody of the haunted toothbrush.

 

“Ed I will literally end your life.” Isaac said.

 

“I think someone’s upset because he’s Bella from Twilight now.” Ed said, Isaac thwacked him on the back of the head. “Steph and RJ gave me the rundown during history.”

 

“And you believe it?” Isabel asked, shaking her head. “I still don’t see how someone who cried during Toy Story 3 could possibly be a horrifying monster.”

 

“I mean, have you met Collin?” Dimitri asked. Collin responded by stealing the rest of Dimitri’s bagel. “But yeah I really don’t care as long as he can still bowl.”

 

“How did this topic even come up?” Isaac asked.

 

“we were talking about play stuff and Stephen brought it up.” Max said. “Speaking of, the Sponsor wants us off book by next Thursday.”

 

“What? Why?” Isaac asked. ‘Also  _ how _ ?”

 

“No idea but I might hire RJ to assassinate them.” Ed said.

 

“Imagine learning lines.” Suzy grinned.

 

“You made us memorize the team rocket dialogue Suzy.” Collin reminded her.

 

“If you don’t have that memorized anyways I don’t know if we can be friends.” Ed said, and Max’s phone buzzed. 

 

“Jang’s en route, so either they got time off for good behavior or they busted out.” Max said.

 

“Midnight patrol says the latter.” Dimitri said.

 

“You’re on.” Isaac replied.

 

“Remind me again why you people go ghost hunting at midnight,” Collin said.

 

“Protecting the streets of Mayview, peasant.” Izzy told him.

 

“I gotta say I’m with Collin.” Dimitri said. “S’not like the spirits are going anywhere.”

 

“Constant vigilance?” Isaac suggested.

 

“Obvious Harry Potter rip-off is obvious.” Suzy said. “But are we sure it’s safe, what with all the vampires on Mayview streets?”

 

“Not you too!” Isabel groaned.

 

“Hey, it’s a valid theory.”

 

“It kinda is.” Ed agreed.

 

“The guy sometimes comes on birdwatching trips.” Collin said. “I seriously doubt that he’s a vampire.”

 

“Vampires have hobbies!” Ed said.

 

“I heard the word vampires.” Stephen said as he strolled into the coffee shop, Jang in tow.

 

“Stephen you better have brought the file.” Suzy said, scooting over to make room.

 

“Suzyyy.” Isabel said dropping her head onto her shoulder.

 

“He makes some good points!” 

 

Johnny plopped down next to Max tossing his backpack down next to him.

 

“I hope yer ready for homework.” Johnny said.

 

“Or, we could do some of that clever banter everyone loves.” Max replied.

 

“No we don’t,” Isaac said.

 

“Silence weeb, I’m negotiating,” Max told Isaac.

 

“Poorly,” Collin said.

 

“Why is it that I am bullied?”

 

“You’re short.” Johnny said solemnly.

 

“Ah.”

 

“But seriously it’s time t’do our damn homework or I’m never gonna do it.” 

 

“Can you help me out with mine too?” Isabel asked. “It’s wack.”

 

“Yeah, Yeah, circle up kids.” Johnny replied while Max begrudgingly had Dimitri pass him his bag.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! Sorry for being dead but my laptop is broken and it's way harder to type on an ipad!/phone so its slow going, but I'm not gone
> 
> Here's some tooth rotting fluff to make up for my absence lol

The vampire theory Stephen had been nursing went ignored for a solid while as the majority of the people who’d put any stock into the theory were in drama, meaning they were scrambling to memorize and adjust their lines before their Sponsor came to check in.

“Man, you suck at this.” Johnny laughed at Max’s pathetic and futile attempts at painting a cobblestone wall.

“Not all of us have the artistic talent of van flipping Goh, Johnny.” Max shot back defensively.

“I feel like I just touched a super secret nerve you’ve never told me about,” Johnny said. “Are y’secretly a tortured artist?’”

“Yes, I’m the reincarnation of Picasso.” Max replied. “But my tiny hands are unable to recreate my previous works.”

“Of course.”

“Okay but seriously why did they make me in charge of prop painting.”

“I dunno dude, I think it’s a punishment for hangin out in the rafters.” Johnny quipped, adjusting his own backdrop.

“You were up there too!” 

“And now I’m painting some vines.”

Max nodded and let out a ‘fair enough’ before the two fell into a comfortable silence, broken only by the occasional huff from Max when the paint refused to cooperate.

“Hold up, I gotta reach across ya for a sec,” Johnny said suddenly, stretching his arm over where Max was struggling to paint his portion of backdrop. Max froze where he was, not wanting to smudge the paint or let it drip in spots it wasn’t wanted. “Freakin greens man,” Johnny muttered

 Max looked up as he did, and felt his ears burn when he finally noticed how close Johnny was.

“Uh-“ Max choked, and Johnny finally noticed the proximity.

“Oh um...” Johnny began, trailing off, paintbrush forgotten. Johnny felt like jumping up and running for a moment, but remained statue still, positive he had only imagined Max’s eyes flicking down for a split second. 

“Puckett! Jhonny!” Ms. Yang called from the stage. “Get down here, we’re running it from the top!

Johnny and Max sprung up, dropping their brushes and hurriedly making their way to the stage.

 

* * *

 

 

“I officially hate algebra.” Cody muttered, shoving his textbook away from him.

“Imagine taking algebra.”

“I hope you know I hate that you’re older than me.” Cody said, shoving Isaac.

“I’m so sorry that I happened to be born when I did.” Isaac replied as he rolled his eyes. “But I could definitely go for s break, you wanna see if we can sneak our way outta here?” Isaac gestured around the library.

“You’re a bad influence.” Cody grinned and grabbed his bag. Isaac remembered Stephen’s stupid theory for a split second when Cody’s teeth were in view, but quickly shook it from his mind.

“Student council president has a dark side.” Isaac said, eyebrows raised. “Suzy would have a field day.” 

“Quiet you, let’s get out of here.” Cody grabbed his backpack and handed Isaac his, and they were off, dodging the sleeping librarian who was technically supposed to be supervising them.

“Roof?”

“You got it,” Cody nodded. Isaac and Cody crept through the otherwise quiet hallway, ducking into doorways when a teacher turned a corner. Eventually they made it to the stairway leading to the roof, and Isaac set to work unlocking the door.

“This will literally never get old.” Isaac grinned at the sight of Mayview below them. Cody hummed, following Isaac’s gaze.

“Yeah well it’s also never not freezing up here.” Cody replied after a moment.

“My bad man,” Isaac said, shrugging off his varsity jacket. “I forgot you were a weak baby.”

“Shut  _ up _ ,” Cody snorted, pulling the warm fabric over his shoulders.

“Never,” Isaac said.

“Well we’ve got some time to kill, what’d ya wanna do?” Cody asked.

“I’ve got my Switch, how about a couple games of smash?”

"Only if you're ready to lose," Cody replied while Isaac set up the game.

"Someone is way to confident in his ability to play as Bowser every single time," Isaac snorted.

"Oh shut up, you always play as King K Rool," Cody shot back.

"All I hear is jealousy at the fact that I can out nerd the king of nerds,"

"Your face."

"Good one, Cody"

Isaac often found it easy to sit like this with Cody for hours at a time. It wasn't often Isaac had the chance to talk so easily with someone, but unfortunately there weren't hours to spend. After about thirty minutes, the period bell rang and Isaac paused the game.

"We should do this more often!" Cody said, smiling.

"We should," Isaac replied, and then added "You're so just saying that because you won."

"No, I'm serious!" Cody huffed while he grabbed his backpack. "But also I did enjoy completely ruining your win streak."

"Jerk."

"See you later, Isaac," Cody grinned. Isaac hadn't noticed until he walked away that he hadn't gotten his jacket back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzy and Stephen are chaotic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey thank you guys for being patient, this fic is a blast to write but I gotta put my grades first!!

A pair of too large binoculars dangled from Stephen’s neck, and he glanced down at them through the bush he was hiding in as they knocked against his knees.

 

“Are they coming?” He asked Suzy, who had her own pair of binoculars pressed to her face as she peered through the foliage.

 

“I think so, I hear geek laughter.” Suzy replied. Not long after, Cody and Isaac rounded the corner of the path in the park, talking loudly about a show neither Stephen nor Suzy had heard of.

 

“So you’re trying to look me in the eye after saying that Yui is the best character. Et tu Isaac?” 

 

“You’re not even done with the show yet!” Isaac said. “You have no idea how deep her storyline is.”

 

“Yeah, okay, sure,” Cody nodded. “This is just like when you insisted Blackstar was the best but by the end you were a diehard Kid fan just like me.”

“Shut up!”

 

Suzy rolled her eyes, and motioned for Stephen to hand her bag. They’d agreed to start small, meaning that they’d stalk Cody and Isaac to the park, observe him and throw garlic in his general area- not  _ at _ him, they weren’t jerks, and see if he reacted.

 

Unfortunately, Isaac fell into the ‘general area of Cody’ category.

 

“Ow- what the hell!?” Isaac shrieked, watching the garlic thump in the dirt.

 

“Italian squirrels?” Cody asked and raised his eyebrows.

 

“ _ Angry _ italian squirrels,” Isaac corrected him. Isaac rubbed the spot on his face where the clove had hit him, and looked around, trying to spot the person who’d thrown it. “Whatever, it’s probably some little kids messing around or something.” 

 

“Yeah, probably,” Cody said. “I feel like you’re pouting.”

 

“I am fully in my right to pout, my face probably smells like an Olive Garden.”

 

“No it- I mean it bounced right off of you, I’m sure it’s fine.” 

 

“I feel completely disrespected right now, just so you know.”

 

“Good, anyone who thinks Yui is an acceptable favorite character has completely forfeited any rights to respect that they may have had,” Isaac set off walking again, trying to keep a straight face. While Cody jogged after him. If he gave the garlic on the ground a bit of a wide berth, who was around to notice.

 

“Sweet christ,” Stephen said, standing up from inside the bush.

 

“Sweet christ indeed my good friend,” Suzy said, rolling out of the other side and brushing the sticks out of her hair.

 

“He’s totally a vampire and I’m totally a genius,” Stephen announced, punting the garlic down the path. “Also that was so nerdy. I think I need to like, punch a baby or something to keep myself from getting infected.”

 

“Or we could go bother Ed and Max at the store,” Suzy suggested, eyeing the women with the stroller nearby warily.

 

“Sounds good t’me,” Stephen said. “I wasn’t  _ actually _ gonna punch a freakin’ baby.”

 

“Coulda fooled me, terminator,” Suzy sniffed.

 

“Shut up!”

 

* * *

 

“You  _ what _ !?” Max asked loudly as he barked out a laugh. Stephen and Suzy had just recounted their day at the park.

 

“I cannot believe you didn’t film it or bring me with you,” Ed said. “My shift didn’t even start until like, fifteen minutes ago.”

 

“If you’d checked the groupchat more often this wouldn’t be an issue,” Suzy shrugged.

 

“So you pelted Isaac with garlic and are now more convinced that Cody is a vampire,” Max said.

 

“Yes.” Stephen said.

 

“What stephen means is, events occurred  _ before  _ and  _ after _ we pelted Isaac with garlic that made us more convinced Cody’s a vampire,” Suzy interjected, pulling a soda from the case and throwing change at Max.

 

“Fine, do tell exactly why Cody Jones is a vampire in addition to the frankly disturbing amount of evidence Stephen has already prepared.”

 

“So I was taking notes,” Suzy began

 

“Of course you were,” Ed nodded, “but filming? Forget it.”

 

“Ed I promise I will take you next time just shhh,” Stephen said, placing his hand over Ed’s mouth, jerking it back when Ed immediately licked it. “Ew!” 

 

“You know how this goes little man,” Ed said.

 

“Whatever, anyway, Suzy, notes, go,” Stephen replied and wiped his hand on Ed’s sleeve. Suzy squared her shoulders, flipped out her notepad, and began.”

 

“Freakish amount of sunscreen, I mean freakish. Avoided the bridge that crosses the little stream that heads toward the lake. Didn’t take any of Isaac’s gummy worms. Somehow spotted a rabbit from like, across the flipping park. Avoided garlic that we lobbed at Isaac.”

 

“Okay, I didn’t have any time to debunk any of those during your weird journalist speech. He’s pale, doesn’t like rickety bridges, thinks gummy worms are gross- which frankly, they are-”

 

“Heretic,” Ed interrupted.

 

“The rabbit thing, I dunno, maybe he has a good eye, and anyone would avoid random garlic that was thrown at someone.”

 

“I thought you believed my theory,” Stephen grumbled.

 

“I do, but I’m screening the stupidity from your evidence folder.”

 

“Can we keep the rabbit thing?” Suzy asked.

 

“How far was it?” Max asked “Tennis court to football field?”

 

“Soccer field plus a kiddie pool,” Stephen said.

 

“Fine,” Max said, and then paused. “If he noticed the rabbit, then don’t you think he’d notice two morons in bad camo following him and Isaac all over the park? Especially if you were carrying around something vampires are supposed to be allergic to?” Stephen and Suzy stared at him for a minute, then looked at one another, then back at Max.

 

“We have made a mistake,” Stephen said.

 

“Uh, yeah,” Suzy nodded. “Stephen how compromised is the operation?”

  
“On a scale of yes to no? Very.”

 

“I bet this wouldn’t have happened if I’d been there,” Ed huffed.

 

“I’m sure,” Max said.

 

“We should add this to the board before we forget,” Stephen said, picking up the bag he’d tossed in front of the counter.

 

“See you guys later!” Suzy said. “Or not, Cody might eat us before we get to Stephen’s.” Stephen and Suzy headed toward the door.

 

“Hey Max?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You might wanna flip the sign to ‘open’ when you guys are open,” Stephen said at the door.

 

 “Are you serious!?” Max exclaimed, hopping over the counter and flipping the sign while Stephen followed Suzy out, signature hyena laugh audible through the front window.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha this took 80 years

“You are literally the biggest pair of morons ever,” Isabel told Suzy. It was the Monday following Suzy and Stephen’s run in with Cody.

 

“Why are you surprised?” Dimitri asked. “Anytime you put Suzy and Stephen near one another they’re bound to cause extreme chaos and possible violence.”

 

“Excuse me, but I was participating in extremely vital scientific research.” Suzy scoffed in reply, shaking her string cheese at Izzy.

 

“Yeah, okay, throwing gar-” Izzy was stopped short when Suzy slapped a hand over her mouth. Isaac sat down with his lunch across from them.

 

“Um,” Isaac said, looking between the journalist and the jock.

 

“Silence weeb,” Suzy said, finally lowering her hand. Isaac raised his eyebrows but said nothing, choosing instead to turn to Collin.

 

“So what’s up with Izzy and Frizzy?”

 

“Isaac I have the power to kill you,” Suzy said. Collin chose to ignore the threat and replied to Isaac,

 

“Conspiracy talk,”

 

“Again?” Isaac groaned. “You guys seriously need a hobby that isn’t creepy.

 

“In my defense,” Izzy said, “I was making fun of them.”   
  


“Okay you can stay.”

 

“I feel like I’m being made fun of,” Suzy sniffed.

 

“You are,” Collin told her, checking his watch.

 

“Iz, I require your jacket for comfort.” Suzy said. Izzy shrugged off her jacket, and handed it over. 

 

“Isaac, where’d your jacket go? Don’t you guys wear them on Mondays,” Collin asked.

 

“I lent it to a friend,” Isaac said, purposefully avoiding eye contact with his friends as his face heated up.

 

“It was Cody,” Suzy told them.

 

“How did you-”

 

“I’m performing surveillance on him to see if he’s a vampire,” Suzy shrugged.

 

“How long do you think you can keep this up before Cody notices?” Dimitri asked. Suzy blanched for a moment, recalling what Max had said about the fact that Cody knew exactly what was happening.

 

“I’m an experienced journalist, Dee, I know how to remain undercover.”

 

“Sure.” Dimitri and Collin said in unison. Isaac snorted, and Suzy flung a french fry at him, and then at Dimitri and Collin.

 

* * *

 

It was exceptionally hectic in the auditorium, more so than usual. The drama kids were all rushing around, throwing props to one another and shouting expletives that were quickly cut off with a harsh look from their teacher, reminding them of the swear jar policy she’d implemented the month prior. Max had pledged twelve dollars to the jar when he’d dropped his wooden stake on his bare foot, beating out Johnny’s nine. Johnny hadn’t had much go wrong, he just liked having the opportunity to swear. No one had as many as Violet though, she’d forfeited 20 dollars and was still adding to it during the setup for the last minute check-in that their sponsor had demanded.

 

“I can’t believe this jackass-”

 

“Swear jar!” Ed called from the crow’s nest where RJ was setting up the lights.

 

“Thinks that they can just  _ show up _ and have us perform!” Violet continued, sliding two dollars to Mrs. Yang some of us have fucking jobs! You have like, three whole children!”

 

“I’m aware that I have children, Violet,” Mrs. Yang chuckled. She dropped the bills into the jar before adding, “All we can do is be grateful that we can put on this big of a production at all.”

 

“I guess, but I don’t have to be happy about it,” Violet huffed.

 

“Nope, but you do have to get backstage before you start having to fork over your lunch money,” Mrs. Yang said, shooing Violet off.

 

Their rehearsal ran smoothly, with only a few minor hiccups with the outdated mechanics of the stage. Johnny was probably going to need a new cape, and Stephen’s rags were a little more torn than they’d been, but they were pleased with the overall reaction, that being two pairs of hands applauding, one of them from Mrs. Yang, the other from a silhouette in the very back row of the auditorium.

 

“Very good, very impressive,” The sillhouette’s voice said as he finished his applause. “I’m pleased with your students’ progress, Mrs. Yang.” 

 

“Thank you very much Mr. Jones, I’m very proud of them,” Mrs. Yang, replied and Johnny, Ed, RJ, Stephen, Max and Ollie all stopped where they were. Davy Jones strode down the auditorium aisle, hand in his suit pants pocket.

 

“And you should be, this is a heavy performance to take on, especially for students this young.”

“They’re working very hard, they all want to impress the school,” Mrs. Yang told him. Davy nodded, cast a glance at the stage that the kids, save the few who were still left flabbergasted, were currently breaking down to make way for the band concert that night.

 

“Well, I’m sure you’ll do just that. If you’ll excuse me, I believe my son’s student council meeting is over,” Davy said, and turned back up the aisle. The conspiracy theorists, reluctant ones included all stared as he went.

 

“You have gotta be  _ shitting  _ me.” Max hissed when the door slammed shut behind his classmate’s father.

 

“Swear jar,” Ed said, not looking away from the door.

 

* * *

  
“I’m going to lose it, I’m actually going to lose my mind,” Max shouted. Isaac winced and rubbed his ear.

 

“You ‘re really worked up about this huh?” Isaac asked, glancing in his rearview mirror.

 

“Yes,” Max, Ollie, Johnny, Ed, and Stephen replied in unison while RJ nodded vigorously.

 

“It makes sense though-” 

 

“That vampire man is funding the vampire play,” Stephen interrupted.

 

“What did I say about conspiracy theories in my van, Stephen?” Isaac asked., “And what I was going to say was, it makes sense that one of the most prolific men in Mayview wants to be philanthropic, especially for the school that his  _ son _ goes to.”

 

“Did using big words make you feel better?” Max grinned.

 

“Shut it Mr. Projectence,” Johnny said from the back seat. 

 

“I was twelve, oh my god,”

 

“Still said it,” Ollie said.

 

“Remind me why I transport you people again?” Isaac huffed.

 

“I give you free vegan-bars from my place of work,” Max replied as Isaac pulled up in front of the Corner Store

 

“Also we’re utterly entertaining,” Stephen added as he jumped out of the van.

 

“More like utterly irritating.”

 

“Rude, anyways, now we’re now out of the poorly named Mystery Machine, Can we please talk about how bold it is for Mayview’s Dracula to actually be paying for  _ Dracula _ ?”

 

“Shut  _ up _ ,” Isaac groaned. “Literally shut up.”

 

“You have to admit it’s weird,” Max told him.

 

“No I do not, and instead of standing around doing what one might qualify as gossiping, can we please go inside, eat your food, and destroy you at your own video games?” Isaac said in a single breath, when he was finished, looking expectantly at his friends.

 

“Fine, but only cuz y’agree that Max’s bad at splatoon,” Johnny conceded.

 

“Traitorous worm,” Max said, faux shock on his face, shoving Johnny into the grass.

 

“Et tu Puckett?” Johnny said from the ground and sweeping at Max’s legs.

 

‘ _ Dumb _ ’ RJ signed, And Johnny pulled them down too, cackling at the hissing sound they made on the way down. Max, currently trapped between RJ and Johnny, faintly heard the sound of the sliding doors whooshing open.

 

“Max, can you and your loser friends go upstairs?” Zoey asked, hands on her hips. “You’re scaring off customers.” Luckily, RJ and Johnny stopped trying to throttle one another for long enough for Max to answer.

 

“I am in no position to make a demand of these people.”

 

“We’ll head up there now Zoey,” Isaac told her, hauling RJ up, leaving Johnny and Max still tangled in the grass. “Up, morons.”

 

“There is a whole nerd laying on me right now.” Johnny said. 

 

“Shut it,” Max said, jumping up and then helping Johnny to his feet. The group followed Isaac inside, all of them save Isaac hopping over the counter rather than lifting it up. Max flicked Zoey on the ear, and the boys and RJ disappeared upstairs.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a bullymagnet centric update because we’re doing plot baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? Update in a timely manner? Yeehaw

Johnny wasn’t sure exactly at what point he’d made the decision to befriend Max. Sometimes he thought it was after the hitball game, sometimes he thought it was during Max’s third week when Forge had first reared his iron head and Johnny had nearly burnt Max’s house down when he ran into the Corner Store screaming and on fire. In his panicked state the part of Johnny’s brain that was still coherent reasoned that the weird superpower kid would know what to do.

 

And he had. At first, Max thought that Johnny was just on fire for non-paranatural reasons, and almost called the fire department, not realizing that the gray vapor emanating from Johnny ws spectral energy and not smoke. After calming down them both down though, Max gave Johnny the first explanation as to what was happening to him. The word zombie was used, and Johnny was more than disappointed to learn that he wasn’t  _ actually  _ a zombie, but opted to stick around the Activity Club.

 

Right now though, he was wishing that he could go back in time and tell younger him ‘ _ stop right there, because the new kid is going to force (well he’s going to ask you in a hopeful voice and you are going to immediately accept because you can’t say no to that face dammit, which essentially is forcing)- you to wander around outside at midnight and as cool as the name Midnight Patrol is, it sucks so hard.’ _

 

“Mux. Max. Maxie. Maxington,” Johnny said, dimming the flame jumping in his palm when Max turned to face him. 

 

“What’s up J-man?” Max asked and flicked off his flashlight.

 

“Have you ever considered  _ not _ doin’ midnight patrol,” Johnny asked. Max scoffed and rolled his eyes.

 

“We both know I’m the only one who doesn’t complain about it.”

 

“Yeah well, I always come with and  _ I _ complain.” Johnny replied.

 

“That’s because, despite your rough and tumble exterior,” Max said, grinning, “You are a massive chicken baby.”

 

“What did you just say to me?” Johnny asked, his grin matching Max’s.

 

“You are a chicken baby who is afraid of the dark.”

 

“I am not!” Johnny shouted, wincing when the sound echoed down the street they were on, startling a dog. “Yer just nocturnal n’you’re all speedy.” 

 

Max didn’t reply, he just looked at Johnny and started clucking, circling him and flapping his arms. He was stopped when Johnny extinguished the fire in his hand completely, grabbed Max and clapped a hand over his mouth.

 

“Did’ya hear that?” Johnny hissed. Max looked up at Johnny and raised his eyebrow.

 

“Mmmfm.” Max rolled his eyes. Johnny guessed he was assuming that this was to get back at him for calling Johnny a chicken.

 

“Seriously, just listen,” Johnny said. Max snorted but complied, holding still, and he could hear the faint sound of sneakers on pavement coming from somewhere down the street. Johnny finally lowered his hand, but held Max in place, they both stared into the darkness, Max not remembering the flashlight in his hand that would have been extremely useful right about then.

 

“They’re getting closer,” Max told Johnny, gripping the sleeve on Johnny’s jacket. 

 

“ _ I can hear that _ ,” Johnny hissed back.

 

“You think it’s a spirit?”

 

“There’d be spectral energy, if it were, right?”

 

“Oh. Yeah.” Max said, his voice quiet as the footsteps grew louder. Johnny’s eyes narrowed, squinting into the darkness as they footsteps drew closer. He noticed Max’s flashlight and grabbed Max’s other arm and pointed it up. Max flipped it on, revealing a plae figure-

 

“Ow, jesus!” Cody winced as the light hit his eyes.

 

“ _ Cody _ !?” Max and Johnny both- though neither would admit it- shrieked.

 

“Max?” Cody asked, still squinting. “Johnny?”

 

Max finally lowered his flashlight, and then looked at Johnny. The two were clinging to one another, and Max had partially climbed onto Johnny. Max coughed and hopped down, and Johnny snickered.

 

“Who’s th’chicken now?” Johnny asked, grinning.

 

“Quiet you,” Max said, jabbing Johnny in the side, and then turning to Cody, “What the hell are you doing man?”

 

“I’m just going for a walk,” Cody said, hands raised, “I Didn’t mean to intrude.”

 

“What,” Johnny and Max both said in unison, before Johnny realised what Cody had meant, his face immediately felt superheated, and it quite possibly was, if the way Max had jumped meant anything.

 

“I think there mighta been a misunderstandin’ or somethi-” Johnny croaked at the same time Max began spluttering.

 

“Wait no- we- you-”

 

“Did I say something wrong?” Cody asked. Both Max and Johnny were gaping, Smoke was beginning waft out of Johnny’s hair, which Max thankfully noticed before he actually caught fire. Johnny had mostly gotten that under control, it took a lot to get him riled up enough to start sparking. Apparently, this was enough.

  
“No, um actually, we’ve gotta go, we were looking for my cat, but obviously, there is no cat here, so we need to keep looking,” Max said quickly trying as subtly as he could to pat out the smoke in Johnny’s hair and shoving Johnny backwards down the street.

 

“Oh, uh,” Cody replied, “Okay, see you tomorrow.”

 

“Later!”

 

Johnny allowed himself to backpedaled an entire block before walking of his own accord, when they were getting nearer to Johnny’s house.

 

“This feels like a good stopping point,” Johnny said.“That went well.” 

 

“Did it?” Max asked, “I think I might have to buy a cat now.”

 

“You’re allergic, aren’t ya?”

 

“Yes.” Max said sadly.

“You’re so dumb,” Johnny laughed, throwing his head back. Max didn’t say anything, but he did look at Johnny for a long minute. Johnny thought that there was a smile somewhere in the look on his face. “What?”

 

“Nothing,” Max replied and shoved his hands in his pockets.

 

“ _ What _ ?” Johnny asked again bumping Max with his shoulder.

 

“Nothing, seriously!” Max said, “I just thought it was funny that dracula was cackling in the moonlight.”   
  


“I can’t tell if that was a jab or not,” Johnny said.

 

“It was,” Max grinned. Soon, they were on Johnny’s street, and Johnny stopped to survey his house, looking for lights on that would mean one of his moms were up.

 

“All clear,” Johnny announced. “You good to walk home alone Maxie?”

 

“As always, yes,” Max reassured him.

 

“And you’ll go straight t’yer house like a normal human?” Johnny asked. Max had a bad habit of wandering around at night, and despite the peaceful nature of Mayview, it worried his friends, both because he needed sleep, and because no one knew what kind of spirit he’d run into on his own, not to mention Stephen’s frequent warnings about various other monsters. Johnny was looking right at Max, because after a solid few years of friendship, Max had learned the ways to tell when Johnny was serious. Johnny thought that was really neat of Max.

 

“I will J-man. Promise.” Max told him, and Johnny tried not to gasp, because he  _ knew _ how much Max hated saying that. He’d told Johnny why, and Johnny told him he’d try his best not to ask him to promise anything. Max had done this on his own, and Johnny felt his heart thump in his chest. Johnny smiled, and yanked Max into a hug. “Uh. Dude?”

 

“See ya t’morrow Max,” Johnny said, “And get home quick okay?”

 

“Um. Okay,” Max said, a bit shell shocked at the contact. Johnny up to his window and squirmed inside, beaming the whole time. He waved at Max through his window, and Max blinked, smiled, waved back, and turned around to head to his house.

 

 Like he’d promised he would.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cody is secretly a disaster gay don’t @ me

Cody wasn’t stupid. He was what some might call naive at times, sure, and he couldn’t read a room to save his life, but he wasn’t stupid.  He’d noticed Stephen and Suzy trailing Isaac and himself in the park, and it was painfully obvious that they’d been the ones who’d thrown the garlic. Cody didn’t want to think up the brain path they’d taken to get to that point. Stephen was an enigma that was best left unexplained.

 

And based off of Stephen’s favorite hobbies, it was safe to assume that he’d noticed some things about Cody. Which was fairly worrying for the both of them. Cody didn’t want to end up on that conspiracy radio show, and he didn’t want Stephen or Suzy to end up on his dad’s radar. 

 

Cody was also pretty sure Isaac had no idea it was Stephen and Suzy who had lobbed a clove of garlic at his head, which was a relief. Cody really did like hanging out with Isaac, and the idea that he was only hanging out with Cody for some stupid conspiracy was something that he didn’t want to think about. It was easy to forget about that when he remembered Isaac’s jacket was hanging on his door though. Isaac hadn’t asked for it back yet, and Cody was just fine with that. It was going to remain with him until Isaac had team photos for all he cared, because damn it, it was comfortable, way too big on Cody, and as much as Isaac denied it, he totally smelled like rain and blueberries, and so did his jacket.

  
When his phone buzzed, Cody jumped, startled out of his thoughts, realising he’d just been staring at the wall for a solid fifteen minutes. He _had_ to work on that. Cody grabbed his phone from his night stand, surprised to see a message from Isaac.

 

**Isaac ‘cool guy’ O’Connnor ;) :** _hey man, I’m having some people over to play video games and maybe watch some movies tonight, you down?_

 

**Cody ‘not as cool as he looks’ Jones:** _sure thing dude!_

 

Cody winced after he sent that, the exclamation mark was a total mistake on his part, so he tried his best to save it.

 

**Cody ‘not as cool as he looks’ Jones:** _what time should i head over?_

 

**Isaac ‘cool guy’ O’Connor ;) :** _Uhhhh most people are getting here at 7, but any time is good! ^u^_

 

Cody’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. If hearts could do that, it totally would have. Cody stared at the text for a solid minute at least, growing even more frantic when his phone rang, his dad’s name on the screen.

 

“Dad?”

 

“Is everything alright, son?” Davy asked before Cody could get another word in.

 

“Yes, dad,” Cody said, he could not _believe_ that this was happening, but of course it was, because the universe hates all things Cody Jones.

 

“Are you sure because yo-”

 

“I dropped my cup and it broke, that’s all dad!” Cody said quickly. He was pretty sure that he was actually going to die like this. “ _P_ _lease_ do not leave work and rush over here over a broken cup.”

 

“I worry, Cody,” Davy said. Cody could practically hear his frown.

 

“Which is why you got me a phone in the first place.”  
  


“Alright,” Davy finally replied. “Papa loves you.”

 

“Love you too, dad,” Cody grumbled.

 

“Be careful cleaning that glass up.”

 

“I will,” Cody said and before his father could say anything else let out a, ‘Bye!” Cody hung up, and immediately turned back to his conversation with Isaac. Unless he wanted his dad to freak out again, Cody needed to seriously chill out. Cody glanced at the clock, internally calculating the amount of time he’d want to get ready. 

 

**Cody ‘not as cool as he looks’ Jones:** _see you at 6 then ;^p_

 

Cody tossed his phone onto his bed and jumped up, sliding over to his closet. Should he change? Would it be weird if he showed up in something other than what he wore to school that day? Were jeans and a tie dye shirt adequate hang out wear? Should he google it?

 

Cody sighed, and shook his head to clear it. He needed to be chill. He needed to exude chillness. No one was going to comment if he changed, he didn’t need to google anything. Cody looked back into his closet, and almost grabbed a Vampire Weekend shirt, but reconsidered when he remembered that Suzy and Stephen would have a field day with that. He’d honestly only listened to them at first for the irony of it. But, he was on the right track with band tees. His Bastille shirt was clean, and he and Isaac both listened to Bastille. Would that be weird? 

 

Eventually Cody had three shirts to choose from, and the rest cluttered his floor. How was this so _hard?_  Cody’s phone buzzed once more, Isaac again.

 

**Isaac ‘cool guy’ O’Connor ;) :** _Hey, are you on your way?_

 

It was 5:50. When did it become 5:50?

 

**Cody ‘not as cool as he looks’ Jones’:** _yup, b there soon bud_

 

Bud. Cody was going to die. Were there lessons on how to hold a normal text conversation somewhere, because right now Cody was confident that he would fail it. He’d flunk out of phone school altogether. He’d go to a phone reformatory.

 

Cody grabbed the Bastille shirt- well aware that that had been his first choice and that his entire search had been pointless- and threw it on, stopping at his door. Should he wear Isaac’s jacket? That would definitely be weird. But on the other hand: Cody _really, really_ wanted to. Cody stared at it for another minute, considering his options carefully, he then realised he was on a time crunch, and grabbed the jacket. Cody let out a breath, composing himself before he took off running down the stairs two at a time. He had somewhere to be after all.


End file.
